Sydney
by islandphoenix
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate the story behind a girl with strange powers. They take her in and as the story of her past is revealed, she must choose between the family she now knows and loves, or the family from her past. summary sucks. sorry chap. 3 up
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody,**

**So here it is, my first X files story. It's set somewhere around and of season 6, beginning of 7 ish, not to be vague, and is pretty much AU, but I don't really know where it's going yet to it might follow some of the X files story. (Which, by the way, does not belong to me at all. Don't sue, Chris Carter. Please.)**

**Reviews are awesome, even just a word or two, and I promise to reply. **

**Thanks for reading,**

**phoenix**

_The first thing that woke her was the pain. An ear splitting headache exploding through her brain. _

_Her body jerked on the ground as she let out a tiny, choked cry. Inside, she was screaming. _

_Her long fingernails dug into her palms, and her ropes of dark brow hair were buried in sand and ocean water. The freezing water lapped playfully at her lifeless body, dressed in a thick white shirt similar to a hospital gown. _

_Finally, after days of lying alone on the beach, her eyes began to open. She looked up at the light of the moon, blurred and blinding, staring at a new world with the wonder and innocence of a newborn's eyes._

_Then she heard the voices. Her heart raced as they drew closer. She had no language, and could not understand their words, but as their hands reached for her, she panicked and fought back. Her ears, still unfamiliar to sound, could hear their screams. _

_She couldn't control it, it all happened so fast. But even through her new eyes she could see those two figures, once living, lying dead in the sand. _

_And then she ran. _

Fox Mulder swung open his office door on a Monday morning with a grin on his face. Dana Scully looked up from whatever she was typing on his computer and rolled her eyes.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Scully, not until you've read this." He slapped a file, packed with photos and papers on the desk. Absentmindedly, she flipped to the first page and stopped. "Sydney, Australia, Mulder? I'm not flying al the way to-"

He cut her off. "I'm not asking you to fly all the way to Sydney, Scully. If you'll bother to read the file you'll fine that it says the girl was found in Sydney, but then was moved to an institution right here in D.C." He pounded his fist on the desk with every syllable. "And then if you read on-"

"I'm reading this file, Mulder, give me a sec," Scully smirked. She squinted at the page. "Girl, approximately seventeen year old, washes up on a beach near Sydney harbor. No memory, no language-"

"Until, after only a few days of exposure to the language, she starts speaking fluent English." Mulder cut in.

"Yes," Scully said, getting ready for one of her famous "most plausible and scientific explanation" speeches. "but her lack of speech could have been caused by disorders induced by trauma. I mean, washing up on a beach with no memory must have been pretty traumatic for a girl as young as sixteen-"

"Well yeah," Mulder said, flipping to another page in the file, "but look at the data gathered from these tests. She has full photographic memory and muscle memory, more so then these doctors say they've ever seen. She's mastered skills of advanced mathematics and sciences, and look here, martial arts, for god's sake!"

"So you want to head over to this nuthouse to talk to some teenage genius amnesiac?" Scully asked, but Mulder was already reaching for his coat.

"Yeah. Possibly a teenage genius amnesiac killer too. A couple of dead tourists showed up on the beach where they found her."

Scully rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

The question went unanswered. Mulder simply reached for the doorknob. "C'mon or we'll be late."

The file lay open on the table. Scully looked at the picture papercliped to the edge of the folder. A young girl stared back with green eyes.

Scully closed the file and turned to her partner waiting in the doorway and followed his footsteps, closing the door quietly behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everybody, here's chapter 2, hopefully a little more interesting than chapter one. Reviews are like ice cream sundaes only better (if you don't like ice cream I'll come up with a better simile :-)**

**Thanks for reading,**

**phoenix**

**P.s if anyone as a better idea for a title, suggestions are great**

Fox Mulder squinted through the smudged glass. The room was, like every other room in the institution, small, bare, the walls a chilling, blank white. The room was so empty and void of life that he could definitely understand why some people went crazy in there.

Curled up on a small, scratchy mattress was a girl, long dark hair concealing her face. The veil of brown locks was so thick that it was hard for him to believe she had a face at all- it was hard for him to believe she was even human. All he could see of her that was not hidden through her hair or hospital gown were two hands clutching an open book. Several others were stacked around her, forming yet another wall for her to hind behind. She was so immersed in the words that he hadn't even bothered to go in and try to talk with her, knowing she wouldn't respond.

Across the room was a young man, flipping through the pages of a clipboard. Every now and then he would look up to watch her, but neither spoke. This was the way it had been for thirty minutes, or at least the thirty minutes that Mulder had been watching them.

Finally he tore his gaze from the window at the sound of footsteps behind him, footsteps that he recognized as Scully's.

"I've got the rest of her files." Scully handed him a small folder. "They don't have much on her, cause, as far as anybody can tell, she didn't exist until a week ago."

"You talked to her doctors?" Mulder asked.

"Yeah, but they all say the same thing. Apparently he's the only one she ever talks to." Scully gestured through the glass at the man. "Michael Nolan. An intern from the hospital who examined her. They've asked him to come in twice a week."

"Well, maybe he's the one he should be talking to." Mulder knocked on the door.

The man sitting in the chair looked up. He looked back at the girl. She had not moved, but when he walked to the door she lifted her head. "I'll be back," he said, and she lowered her eyes again to the pages of her book.

He turned to greet Mulder and Scully with a smile on his face. "Hi. Michael Nolan."

"Hey, I'm Fox Mulder, this is Dana Scully of the FBI." As usual, they both took out their badges.

Michael Nolan nodded. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Everyone says that you're the only one who's been able to really talk to her." Mulder looked back at the girl, still reading. "What has she said to you?"

He shrugged. "We just talk. Sometimes she reads to me from her books."

"Nothing about where she came from?" Mulder asked.

Nolan shook his head. "Maybe she's not ready to talk, or she just doesn't remember. But you won't get her to say anything if she doesn't want to talk."

"Can you tell us what the progress has been on this girl's diagnosis?" Scully asked.

He nodded. "Far as anyone can tell, there's nothing wrong with her. She has exhibited some memory loss, but there were no injuries that would have caused amnesia."

"How do you explain her ability to learn information like this in a short period of time?"

Nolan shrugged. "I can't. Neither can anyone else. That's why they're keeping her here so long."

"You really think she's stable enough to leave?" Scully asked.

He nodded. "If she had anywhere to go. We've sent out a number of reports here and as have the doctors in Australia, but no one's stepped forward for Sydney."

"Sydney?" Mulder asked. "In the reports she was listed as another Jane Doe."

"Yeah, but the doctors back there gave her a name and that's what we call her here. Sydney Cole. For where she was found, and the last name of the doctor who took her in. It gets depressing labeling someone as just another Jane Doe. We figured she should at least have a name."

"You think Sydney's stable enough to leave this place," Scully restated, more than a little unsure.

"I think what she needs more than anything right now is someone to take her in, in a place that'll at least be a little more like home than this." He tapped his fingers on the glass, hard. "But I'm an intern from a downtown hospital, and I don't think they'll listen to me."

"Well, there's a chance they might." Mulder said. "You're the only one who's ever been able to really get through to Sydney. Maybe they'll listen to you."

"What, do you want to be the one to take her in?" he asked.

Mulder nodded. Scully's eyes widened.

Nolan ran his hands through his hair. "I'll speak with the head of the ward, see what I can do."

"Thank you," Mulder called after him.

Scully waited until the door closed behind him and turned back to look Mulder in the eye. "What do you think you're doing?"

"It'll at least be easier for us to get her to talk if she's away from here," Mulder protested.

"So you're just going to take some poor missing girl with no memory or identity and what, let her sleep on the couch in your apartment?"

"No, I'm just trying to figure out what happened here," Mulder insisted.

"That's not what this is about," Scully cut in. She grabbed his hand, and they both stopped for a moment, eyes locked in each other's gaze. She hesitated, but didn't let go. "No matter how many of these mysteries you solve, it won't make your sister come back."

Mulder looked back through the glass at Sydney. _It was true, _he thought. She did make him think of Samantha. It always came back to Samantha, he thought of her every day.

He looked back at Scully, then at her hands, which were still tightly gripping his. There was a knock on the door, and she let go, as though their hands were on fire. She wouldn't look him in the eye. "I'll be right back," she mumbled, and turned away from him, walking slowly out the door.

He watched her leave, clenching his shaking hands into fists. _Things are changing, _he realized, and it scared the hell out of him. If it ever changed between them, how could it ever be the same again?

But then, as she turned back to the window and their eyes met, he thought, _Maybe it'd be okay. _ As long as they were together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, **

**So here's chapter 3. Nothing much else to say that won't give away the whole chapter. Thanks for the great reviews last time, you guys are the best. Review again and I will reply. ;-)**

**Thanks everyone, happy super bowl,**

**phoenix**

About ninety minutes later, there they all were, inching along the highway in Mulder's car. In those ninety minutes, after a lot of meetings with the head of the psych ward, signing so many legal documents his hand was still cramping, and far too many phone calls, it was concluded that Sydney was in their protection, under many conditions, some of which being that she meet with a therapist twice a week, and that she wear a tracer, monitoring her location during "lockdown," where she was not allowed to leave the house for a couple hours each day. Scully had even made a call to Skinner, who declared that this was now their assignment, which meant that both of their jobs were now at stake because of this crazy impulse of Mulder's.

He looked back in the rearview mirror at Sydney, who was staring out that car window with wide eyes. The car. That had been one of the first big problems. It was rather strange driving with someone who had never (at least not to their memory) set foot in a car before. Driving just a little over the speed limit, as he always did, had proved to be a little too much for Sydney, and the terrified look on her face didn't fade until they were moving at about 12 miles per hour.

Yet another annoyed car horn blared, Sydney jumped, and Mulder began mentally screaming at himself. _What the hell were you thinking? She's completely insane!_

Scully seemed to be reading his mind, and she searched for something to change the subject. All that she could think of was "Can you drop me back at the office? I've got one more report I need to finish."

He nodded silently, still unable to speak. He turned the car down the road that led to the F.B.I building, the words _Oh god this is such a big mistake _running through his mind like a broken record.

The car screeched to a halt as his foot slammed down on the brake almost of it's own accord. Scully opened her car door and turned back to look at him. "I'll see you tomorrow," she murmured, squeezed his shoulder, forced a smile, and left.

They inched the rest of the way home, until finally, they pulled up to his apartment building. "Here we are," he said, with a forced smile like Scully's. Realizing that unless Sydney had been watching him with her muscle memory, that she might not know how to open a car door, he rushed to the back of the car. Apparently she had been watching, because by the time he rushed to her aid, she was already out of the car, standing dangerously close to the curb and squinting up at the building, marveling at the height of it. Trying out to laugh at her innocent wonder with such ordinary things, he pointed to the front door. "This way," he said, and she followed.

He decided that the elevator would not be a good idea, she they climbed flight after flight of stairs. She was much faster than he was, and he was panting by the time they finally reached his floor. He led Sydney down the hallway, searching his pockets for his keys.

"Well, this is it," he said, switching on the lights with a flourish. "Let me give you the grand tour. This is-"

Mulder turned around. Sydney was already curled up on the couch, reading. He blinked, having no idea how she had gotten there. Then he finished his sentence "-the bookcase. And apparently that concludes our tour," he muttered to himself. She didn't move. He ran his hands through his hair with a sigh. This was going to be interesting.

And interesting it was. Though Sydney did spend most of her time reading, was as fascinated with the fish tank as she was with the clothes spinning in the washing machine, and still hadn't spoken a word, Mulder couldn't deny that the first day with his new roommate had been interesting. He wished he had something to say to her. He tried to imagine what it would be like, seeing the world for the first time. The way she looked at everything, every little thing, like she had never see it before, because she hadn't, or at least she didn't remember.

One day Scully came by, her arms laden with paper bags. "Hi," she said. "I asked my mom to dig some of mine and Missy's old clothes out of the attic. She was gonna give them away as hand-me-downs, we never got around to it. Hopefully they'll fit her," she nodded over to Sydney, who was sitting by the fish tank with a book.

"Thanks," Mulder said. "Really."

Scully nodded. "Sure. How's it going?"

Mulder shrugged. "She read more of the books in my bookcase then I have, but hasn't slept, eaten, or left the house."

Scully raised her eyebrows. "And nothing? No memories or anything?"

Mulder shook his head. "Hasn't said a word."

Scully watched her with interest and confusion. "I tried to find her in the files at the F.B.I," she said. "I looked up every one with her description and age in the X-files, everywhere. But-" Scully lowered her voice. "As far as I can tell she didn't exist until a week ago."

Mulder closed his eyes. "What do I do, Scully?" he asked. "I don't even know what to say to her."

Scully smiled. "Maybe you just need to give it some time. If it's possibly true that this girl hasn't seen the world before, she's got a lot to get used to."

Scully tossed the paper bags on Mulder's couch. "These are for you, Sydney," she called, and Sydney actually turned to look at her. "Let me know what you think," Scully said. "I'll see you soon."

_Was that a smile on Sydney's face? _Mulder asked himself He looked back at Scully, his mouth practically open in shock. _How the hell did she do that?_ he wondered.

"See you tomorrow," Scully said with a grin, closing the door behind her.

His eye traveled back to the figure in the corner. He squinted at the book she was reading. It appeared to be one of his many baseball books, either the one on the history of baseball or the one that he had taken from the F.B.I. _Damn, I've got to return that…_

But then an idea began to form in his mind. He ran to the window. It was getting dark. _We'd better go soon… _

He waited until Scully's car pulled away from the curb and turned back to Sydney. "You wanna go somewhere?" he asked.

She looked up, but didn't leave her safe corner.

"Come on," he said, "put away the books. There's only so much you can read about baseball. Just wait until you try playing."

To his amazement, a smile spread across her face, and she closed the book.

"G-great," he stuttered, "but don't tell Scully I let you play baseball instead of read or she'll kill me." He realized that she was still dressed in her hospital clothes. "But you'll need to try these on first," he said, pointing to the bags of clothes.

One slow car ride later, they walked across the empty and silent baseball field. Sydney was dressed in Scully's old plaid shirt and overalls. Mulder smiled, trying to imagine the little girl whose stories he had heard from Margaret Scully so many times. He remembered when he had taken Scully out here himself, after she had declared the baseball was "boring." He smiled at the memory.

Mulder tossed his old baseball back and forth from one hand to the other. He handed one of his old beat up gloves to Sydney. "Here," he said. "You put it on like this." He slipped his hand into the other. Sydney put hers on, and stared at it with that now familiar look of curiosity.

"Okay," he said, "I'll throw it like this," he tossed the ball from hand to hand, "and you catch it like this." He sent the ball catapulting into his gloved hand. "Ready."

She nodded, and he hardly dared to believe it, but he thought that he could see her teeth grinning. He tossed the ball, and she caught it, only to send it hurling back into the darkness. "Whoa!" he yelled, and ran after it, searching and searching through the grass until he finally stumbled over it. He ran back to Sydney, who was, _laughing? _Yes, she was laughing, and it wasn't long until he was too.

Minutes turned to hours, as they tossed the baseball back and forth into the night. They remained caught in the rhythm of toss, catch, toss, catch, until something broke the silence.

A police car sped down the street, sirens blaring. Suddenly, terror grabbed Sydney, and she ran. Mulder ran after her, panic making him run faster. What if she ran into the street?

He saw her trip over something in her path and fall. "Sydney!" he yelled, finally reaching the spot where she lay in the grass. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes were closed tight, her fingers tangled in her hair. She was curled in a ball, muttering to herself. "It's them, them, they're coming, don't let them, don't let them take me-"

Mulder took her into his arms, stroking, her hair. "It was a police car," he murmured, "It's okay. Just a police car."

Slowly, she uncurled herself and looked back up at him. "Let's go home," she mumbled.

"Sure," he whispered. But she didn't let go of the sleeve of his jacket as they walked back to the car.


End file.
